Outer Banks residents must tackle snapped power lines, flooded homes after Hurricane Dorian

By Adam Owens, WRAL anchor/reporter, & Deborah Strange, WRAL digital journalist

Nags Head, N.C. — Hurricane Dorian snapped power lines, chewed piers and tossed debris in the Outer Banks.

Neighborhoods were dark Saturday morning as power lines were laying in roads and over houses in Nags Head, their poles in pieces.

About a third of Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills and the end of Nags Head Pier had fallen in the storm.

Residents on Ocracoke Island were dealing with flooding that some called “historic” and “catastrophic” caused by the Category 1 hurricane.

Resident Scott McNally told WRAL News on Friday morning that people were using boats and jet skis to get their neighbors to higher ground as storm surge from the ocean and the sound pushed huge amounts of water on land.

“We’re just trying to take care of people right now,” McNally said.

Some people had to move to their attics to escape rising waters in their homes.

About 800 people had stayed on the island, officials said.

Hyde County officials said crews were bringing in a generator, water and ready-to-eat meals on Saturday, enough food and water to last three days among 1,100 people.

The North Carolina National Guard brought in water, food and communication supplies on Friday once winds had weakened enough to allow aircraft to fly.

Dorian was still a Category 1 hurricane Saturday morning, with maximum sustained winds at 85 mph. Parts of eastern Nova Scotia and western Newfoundland in Canada were under a hurricane warning as the storm moved northeast at 25 mph, the National Hurricane Center said at 5 a.m.

Back in the Outer Banks, two parts of N.C. Highway 12 had buckled, limiting access on the islands.

A mandatory evacuation was still in place Friday afternoon in Dare County because of the hazardous conditions.

County officials will discuss allowing reentry on Saturday morning.

See all Hurricane Dorian coverage.